Review - His Mossy Boy by R. Cooper

Sheriff deputy Ian Forrester has had a thing for Martin for a while. That’s why he visits the coffee shop where Martin is a barista almost every day. Ian can’t pursue Martin the way he’d like, because humans can’t know what Ian truly is. Still, he can’t keep himself from taking care of the young man whenever he is in trouble. Martin tries not to think too much about Ian. After all, he’s straight, he thinks. Being anything else wasn’t an option, as far as his mother was concerned. Besides, Ian is too nice. The deputy can do a lot better than Martin, who gets drunk and high far too often.

While the Being(s) in Love books are mostly stand-alone stories, “His Mossy Boy” is a direct sequel to Treasure for Treasure. The main characters from that book play significant roles in this story, so you’ll be pretty lost if you read this book without reading the previous one first. On top of that, this story revolves around the magic and history of the town of Everlasting, which is also hinted at in the other book.

Like most of the books in this series, the romance is a very slow burn. Ian and Martin both have reasons for holding back, although it’s mostly out of fear of hurting each other. As is often the case, it takes a rather serious turn of events to force the two to admit what they really want.

We know more or less from the start that Ian isn’t human. We don’t learn exactly what kind of being Ian is until near the end. Half of the story is narrated from Ian’s point of view, so while he may not be human, we can easily understand his dilemma. Humans who didn’t understand the role these creatures played in the natural world hunted them down and killed them. So, Ian was raised to blend in, not stand out, and above all, don’t get close to any humans. Yet, his attraction to Martin is hard to resist.

Martin is obviously a mess from the very start. He drinks and smokes weed far too much. It doesn’t take long for us to see that Martin uses alcohol and marijuana to mask the pain and confusion he feels. It takes a bit longer to understand the underlying causes of his feelings. Martin’s story, especially his interactions with his mother, can be tough reading. The result is that the young man doesn’t think he’s worthy of Ian’s attentions, even once Martin comes to terms with his attraction to men.

“His Mossy Boy” is available from Smashwords or see BookBub for other online sellers.